


Beside You

by Ochatoame



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 11:32:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17344499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ochatoame/pseuds/Ochatoame
Summary: This was originally written on Tumblr, on my Ask/RP Clementine blog, agirlinhell. It got a lot of likes and reblogs so I decided to share it with you guys here on AO3!





	Beside You

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written on Tumblr, on my Ask/RP Clementine blog, agirlinhell. It got a lot of likes and reblogs so I decided to share it with you guys here on AO3!

Title: Beside You

Genres: Angst, Hurt-Comfort, Romance.

Pairings: Louis &&. Clementine; implied Aasim &&. Ruby.

Characters: Clementine, Louis, AJ (mentioned), Violet (mentioned), Ruby, Aasim (mentioned), Omar (mentioned), Tennessee (mentioned), Marlon (mentioned), Rosie (mentioned), Brody (mentioned), Mitch (mentioned), Willy (mentioned).

Warnings: There’s implications of past self harm and body image issues and confidence issues on Clem’s part. Readers’ll also get to see a bit of  ** _my_**  portrayal of Clementine’s dark past that wasn’t explored in canon but only briefly and it’s very much in the form of implications. Spoiler warning for those who have not seen the screenshots released by Skybound for Episode Three of the series, Broken Toys. It gets better by the end, though. Only **[@KEPTMANNERS](https://tmblr.co/mLqchoQF0b5sND9xeHd9hEw)** /  **[@MOREFINESSE](https://tmblr.co/mGKUFcU2bCqqqh1KKtMeu0g)** can reblog this post freely. Anyone else can reblog this if I give them permission.

A/N: Writing this was really and truly an emotional rollercoaster ride. I haven’t wrote Louis/Clementine related things in a long time so I decided to try my hand with some angst/comfort because I was really feeling the vibes. Originally I was going to put a bit of Clementine torturing Abel but… I think that could do for another drabble. :’D

* * *

_if your heart wears thin, i will hold you up and i will hide you when it gets too much._

* * *

The sound of sobs reverberated through the walls of Ruby’s dormitory as Clementine held her close, rubbing her back while her friend wept in her arms. The recent deaths of Marlon, Brody and Mitch had hit her too hard, and now Aasim, Omar and Violet had been taken as captives. Clem could only imagine the guilt and the anguish washing over her. They were all good people that didn’t deserve the fates that were handed to them. She wanted more than anything in the world right now to chase after them relentlessly like Luke had once done all those years ago to get his group back, and kill their cruel captors, and take them back to the school with her, but at this point, it was impossible. If only she had been quicker, faster, stronger. She pulled apart from her friend slowly, “Ruby, _look_  at me.” She demanded calmly, and when those ocean eyes shifted up to her and focused on her, Clem nodded and held her hand in hers, “Whatever it takes, we will get them all back, even if it means I have to kill  _every last one of them_ , and they will  **BEG**  for the mercy they didn’t show the homes they burned and the children they stole, even if it means I have to  **SMASH**  down their walls and **LIGHT THE WHOLE GODDAMN PLACE ON FIRE**. I’ve done it before, _i can do it again._ ”

Ruby stared at her, momentarily astonished at her words, before nodding firmly. Clem nodded back at her in approval, “But, in the meantime, you need to rest and gather your strength. You’re the most important and valuable person of this group. You’re our only medic, we can’t lose you, so… stay alive. Don’t do anything reckless and don’t worry about my wounds, I can take care of them for tonight. We leave at dawn.” She ordered, squeezing her hand gently in comfort before standing up from her bed and smiled at her before beginning to walk away, until- 

“Clem?” Her voice piped up softly.  


The girl turned around to face her, and it appeared as if the red haired girl was trying to form words, before finally, “I… I never got to tell  ** _him_**.” She rasped, tears streaming down her cheeks. A sad sense of realization filled her then and she quickly walked over to her and held her close, “God, Ruby, I’m so sorry,” she murmured, weaving her hands through her red hair and pressing a small kiss on her temple. She knew how much Aasim meant to Ruby.

Ruby smiled sadly and thanked her quietly and told her that she could leave. 

She did.

* * *

**HOW** do you hide a pain so strong it threatens to  ** _tear you apart_**? For her, it was customary to simply  _ ~~bury~~_  her feelings until they didn’t  ~~ _exist_~~  anymore, even if at times it seemed impossible. So she absorbed the pain, the sorrow, the regret, allowed it to seep into her bones, until she simply didn’t know how to live apart from it, because the pain had become a part of who she was. She would never stop crying over the ones she loved and lost, the one that she had fallen in love with, begging that death would take her sooner, but perhaps the void they had all left behind could be filled.

The world seemed grey and empty without them, and she could not even bring herself to smile for the facade of it all. She longed to fly, to float, to be weightless - unburdened by the memories of them. Some mornings she would wake up and she could swear that Lee was standing beside her, but he would disappear the second she reached for him. Her grief was like an ocean - ebbing and flowing. All she could do was learn to swim in it, and pray not to drown, and hope to sail over the salty seas and into the sunset, so she could see where it ended.

Clem reached for the soaking wet cloth from the bucket of water and began to clean her wounds. AJ had been comforting Tenn with Rosie, and Ruby was taking care of Willy. Her jacket and hoodie were scattered to her side and her curly brown locks were let loose. Bruises, scars and scratches littered her sides, her belly, her arms, her legs, most of them being caused by others, while some were of her own making. None of her recent wounds were fatal. She placed the warm fabric onto her shoulder, a soft hiss escaping her.

A knock on her door and Louis lets himself in before noting what she was doing. “Oh,  _shit_ , Clem, I didn’t-”

_**“LOUIS,”**_  Clem interrupted exasperatedly with a small smile, “It’s fine.” Luckily, she still had her tan shirt on and her jeans were rolled up. Louis rubbed the back of his head with a tad bit of nervous laughter before approaching her and sat beside her. He revealed a silver necklace in the palm of his hand. “I found this baby. It’s an Omega, a letter of the Greek alphabet. It represents the end of something… and it was pretty, so I thought you’d like it.”  


Clementine smiled, nodding her approval as he handed it to her, “Can you put it on?” she murmured. Louis eyed her before nodding and reaching behind her. The coolness of the silver hit her neck, causing her to shudder slightly as she scrubbed a part of her arm. When he finished, his brown hues shifted down to her arms and her legs, eyes widening in shock on just how many there were. This was a girl who had fought through so many battlefields that she’d forgotten how many she’d fought in. And then he saw the healed scars on her wrists, brows furrowing in concern. There would be no jokes or teasing from him tonight. This was a side of him that only she got to see.

She could still remember the sweetness of their first kiss, when time slowed down and she couldn’t hear a single sound and having no knowledge of what was happening around her, she was just glad that finally, a piece of happiness had found her. Even though past relationships had left her in bits and pieces, she knew that Louis would love her in all her imperfection. Clem stared at the boy sitting before her, realizing at that moment how embarrassed she felt. She looked so out of it, the scars that littered her sides, her belly, her arms, her legs. She was no longer honored, and perhaps for the first time ever, in his presence, she hadn’t even felt…  _pretty_. 

Louis frowned at this and leaned in so close that their lips were brushing, and she let him. “Clem… I know I let you down once,” he murmured, his voice filled with regret while pressing their foreheads together. “But I’ll do anything. I’ll go through hell if I really have to. I owe you a countless number of apologies, but even so, even that wouldn’t be enough… I know that even with apologies, I can never make up for the time we lost, but I’m here now… Let me help you.” With that, he planted a soft, soft kiss on her lips, and she let him. When her eyes thanked him, he saw his reflection and it was then that he realized that she was letting him in where only a few other have been. What was once shrouded in darkness suddenly became clear. This was the side of her heart where she’d hidden all that she’s ever feared, all that she’s ever lost, all the regrets she’s buried and all the memories she’s forgotten, all the nights where she’s cried so hard it left her breathless, overwhelmed with death, betrayal, abandonment and second guesses, when every step she took reminded her of a past mistake, when every smile she faked hid the pain she’d wish she could replace with something other than a burden. He knew now. Even though this love of theirs - if that’s what this was - might not last, he would still walk with her to the end of the world… and then past it.

She cried. He held her there and kissed her scars that had broken her confidence, and then, he kissed away all her tears patiently while gently cleaning her wounds. 

No more tears, no more fears or doubts or what-ifs, not for tonight. What mattered was what they had.

* * *

__i’ll be right beside you.__   


* * *

After he was done, he dragged a hand up her thigh and guided her toward him. An arm around her waist turned her toward him just as she was fixing to tie up her hair. His hand found hers and closed around it. 

“Leave it down,” he whispered against her lips.

“I indulge you too much.” she murmured softly with a giggle,

He grinned.  _“what’s wrong with that?”_

* * *

_                                                                            nobody will break you.  _


End file.
